"Nowadays women carry a lot more burden" - Femcafé interview with Krisztina Szabó, owner of Publicity Aim
We love interviewing women we can all look up to. This time we spoke to Krisztina Szabó, owner of Publicity Aim, a well-known communications agency. In our interview, she talks about what it was like to become a leader at a young age in a workplace where it was mostly men, tells us the secret to their success and how to become a good leader, but also gives some great tips for budding entrepreneurs.
Can you tell us a bit about your career? Where exactly did the idea to start a communications agency come from?
At the age of 16, I had the privilege of attending one of Péter Geszti's lectures in Kecskemét. From then on I knew I wanted to be a marketer and start an agency. That's absolutely how I built my life, that's how consciously I went to school, and I had the opportunity to study international marketing in America. At the age of 26, I joined a chain of technical retailers, where I became marketing manager in six months and was promoted to commercial manager two years later. 15 years ago, we founded the Publicity Aim agency, where I started working with a former colleague, Judit. We have built up a huge network of contacts and now work with many big brands and have won international tenders.
What do you think is the secret of your success, what makes you stand out in this market, which is quite saturated now?
It's a very saturated market, and I think Covid has had a big impact on that, because it has really accelerated digital marketing. Because there are areas that are very easy to master, it's just not always how. For example, like when a doctor has a doctorate but hasn't practiced, obviously no one would want to get under his or her thumb. And this is also true in marketing. I think we also have more responsibility than freelancers and more experience because we work in a team. I've also built up the team so that we have the right people for each area and can work symbiotically with other areas. I work with very good people and there is not only a professional but also a family atmosphere, which is very important in creating a good workplace. And compared to the big agencies, we have the advantage of being much more flexible, and flexibility in this market is much more important than money. Because we can react immediately and intervene when necessary. I'm very loyal to my clients, even though it's not in the contract that we can't work with a similar brand, but I've turned down a big beauty brand because we've already signed with another one. I would also like to point out that we are not looking for short-term profit, we are planning for the long term with a client.
And what is the secret of your success?
Perseverance, honesty and a love of work. It may sound pretentious, but I never did it for the money. Anyone can make it, but at any time a situation can arise, and I know myself that I can rebuild it at any time. Most of all, I love making things work and seeing the satisfaction on the client's face. That's why we build a very intimate relationship with our clients, and that's why we don't want to be so big. Every client is important to me, big and small. If, for example, a client doesn't have the right background to enter the market, but I believe in them, we are happy to help them succeed. This year we reached our 15th anniversary and although there were difficult times, it never crossed my mind to stop.
What do you think of yourself as a leader, what feedback do you get?
I am in a lucky position because I have a very big critic, my mother. But the biggest feedback I can get is from Judit, my colleague who has worked with me for 15 years, without her I wouldn't be here. She told me that I have changed a lot. When I was young, I was a very vehement, unthinking person, I said what I thought straight away. It's no different now, it's just that the way it's presented is not the same, I've changed a lot. But what has always been true for me is that I never expect more from my colleagues than I expect from myself. I don't expect overtime because I know that I need to recharge, because I was an employee myself. I think they like working with me because I'm very realistic. I think financial motivation is important, but it's only part of the package. A good manager just has to think about how he or she would feel if they were an employee. And what's also important as a leader is to know everyone's capacity and realise that not everyone's performance is the same every day. Maybe these are the reasons why I am where I am.
You said to me tellingly that you have worked with several male leaders. What was it like working together? Did you ever feel disadvantaged because you were trying to assert yourself as a woman?
I've had a good experience in this as well, because I was lucky enough to never be disadvantaged, I started in a good community, and the technical market was full of men, and I was 26 years old, but I never had a bad experience. Nowadays, women have a much bigger workload: a woman works the same amount of hours, but she has to take care of the household and bring up children. The secret is that you need a good partner, and I have been lucky in that respect too, because I have been given one.
You mentioned that you have a little girl. How do you think it's possible to find a work-life balance? What do you do to relax?
I couldn't do it for a long time, I felt like I was falling apart. And from then on I said, if I can put a client on my calendar, I can put my child on my calendar. Monday-Thursday is a long day for me, when my partner or the mothers take care of my little girl, and Tuesday-Wednesday I take her to school, I pick her up, and then we have a programme together. On Fridays we work from home, I take her and I love to cook for her. I also make time for myself, and I make a note of that in my diary. I've also decided that I will only very rarely allow myself to work on weekends. Because I really am taking time away from the experience that is the most wonderful thing in life: being a mother. So my tip is to put family activities in your calendar!
What is the most important thing you want to teach your daughter?
I used to tell him that the more languages you speak, the more people you reach. I don't want to spoil him, I don't buy him everything, because I teach him that money doesn't fall into our laps, we have to work for it. I give him a task every day, so that he learns now that every day is another task to achieve our goals. It's also very important to teach perseverance: that's what I miss the most in today's youth. If something doesn't work right away, they want to stop or change it. There will always be obstacles, it's better to learn and manage this now. Raising children is not an easy thing, you can mess it up once, but it lasts a lifetime! I think perseverance and honesty are the most important things, and if you are loved, you can love. The more love you get from home, the easier it is to give it to others.
You've been doing it for a long time, have you never felt burnt out?
Of course you can. Everybody has that phase in life. Working for an agency is always very varied, you always get a new challenge. However, in today's world, you have to prove that you're doing something right to your colleagues, your family and your clients. And that's where you can get burnt out: in the constant conformity, the proving and the regular renewal. In a digital world, you have to keep renewing and staying up to date. You have to work for everything, but luckily I love what I do, so it's not hard for me. And that there are struggles? There always have been and always will be. And when something is really good, you're afraid of when it's going to be bad, because it's so good. That's normal too.
What advice would you give to a budding entrepreneur who wants to start their own business?
I think it's important for a start-up entrepreneur to know what their purpose and mission is. Believe in your product or service! Notice the little things, whether it's an offer or an opportunity, because you never know what it will turn into. It's also important to surround yourself with people who believe in you and you believe in them. You can never be successful alone, only with a team.
LEAD PHOTO: KATA LANG/FEMCAFE, PHOTOS: PUBLICITYAIM
The interview can be read on the FemCafé website by clicking here.
